Elizabeth Clare Prophet

Zip Dobyns

Elizabeth Clare Prophet is a well-known guru who led her
flock from Malibu, California to Montana in anticipation of a nuclear attack on
the United States by Russia. The group bought land just north of Yellowstone National Park and built a bomb shelter to survive the anticipated attack that
was to come soon after 1975. When the prophesied attack failed to materialize,
some members of the religious group were disillusioned, but others stayed on to
form a spiritual community that sought to preserve the land with ecologically
sound farming. As would be expected, many of the local neighbors were deeply
distrustful of the newcomers with their “strange” beliefs, but gradually the
group has won over many of them by trying to be good neighbors and not
proselytizing.

Prophet’s chart was discussed in the Summer 1990 Asteroid-World,
but I am including it with current progressions in light of the news on
November 25, 1998 that she has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. Prophet was noted
for her channeling of some of the same “ascended Masters” who supposedly spoke
through Blavatsky, the founder of Theosophy. A number of other psychics have
carried on and amplified the belief system formulated by Blavatsky on Hindu
roots, including Steiner, founder of Anthroposophy, Alice Bailey, the Ballards,
and Elizabeth’s first husband, Mark Prophet. Psychic sensitivity can be a
two-edged sword. Over-sensitivity can threaten the physical health and/or the
psychological stability. The asteroid Pythia was named for the priestesses who
gave prophesies at Delphi. Prophet has natal Pythia conjunct her Part of Death
in 15 Virgo, though this may simply point to her contacts with non-material
beings as part of her job.

According to her birth certificate, Elizabeth was born on
April 8, 1939 at 11 A.M. in Red Bank, NJ. I have added many asteroids to my
collection since discussing her chart in 1990, including Aletheia, the goddess
of truth, and Kurtz and Skepticus, named for debunkers of anything paranormal.
Nagasaki and Hiroshima were named for the Japanese cities destroyed by atom
bombs, so they could be prominent in her chart in light of her fear of a
nuclear attack. Teller was a promoter of hydrogen bombs. Several asteroids
were named for healers, so their aspects may signify healers, healing, or the
need for healing. Of course, we also have asteroids named Elisabetha, Russia, Montana, and California among many others of interest.

Kurtz was named for the philosopher devotee of materialism
who founded the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the
Paranormal (CSICOP) and the asteroid Skepticus was named for his debunking
organization. Elizabeth Prophet was born long before these two asteroids were
found and named, but at her birth Skepticus was on her Sun at 17 Aries 34 and
Kurtz was on her IC at 2 Libra 24 retrograde. They could not have been more
prominent! We could interpret their emphasis in her chart as an indication of
her battle with materialists, as well as a clue to the need for a little more
genuine skepticism on the part of both sides of the contest. Kurtz and his associates
are, of course, not skeptics. They are as much “true believers” as Prophet and
her followers. They believe in materialism, so they have to ignore all
evidence for astrology and psychic experiences, while Prophet was obviously too
ready to believe in her channeled messages of coming catastrophes. The human
search for “final truth” too often leads to premature closure, to thinking we
have “arrived.” Jupiter, Sagittarius, and the 9th house symbolize the search
for absolutes, but they invite us on a journey which never ends. The Absolute
is bigger than our minds can comprehend.

The asteroid Nagasaki was also extremely prominent, conjunct
her Descendant at 20 Capricorn 33. P Nagasaki had turned retrograde and was
very slowly moving on Prophet’s Saturn/north lunar node midpoint and opposite
Pluto. It also squared her Saturn/south node midpoint and Prophet’s P
Antivertex (an auxiliary Ascendant for personal action) had reached Pluto to
reinforce the T-square. As our readers know, I see the Saturn-lunar node
midpoints as keys to lessons. Once we have learned whatever the lesson
involves, Saturn, the nodes, and their midpoints point to areas of life where
we have something to give the world.

Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and especially
after the economic collapse of Russia in the summer of 1998, Prophet obviously
could no longer maintain her faith in the reliability of her psychic sources.
Sociologists and psychologists have carried out a number of interesting studies
of the reactions of religious groups when the prophecies of their leaders
failed to materialize. Usually, the initial reaction is a postponement of the
predicted time for the coming events, but eventually most followers give up and
abandon the guru and his or her beliefs. An alternative reaction is to suggest
that human consciousness has become more “spiritual” and has prevented the
predicted catastrophes. In recent years, many devotees of Prophet did drop
their financial support of the Church, and she hired a business manager to cut
staff and expenses. A primary figure in the Church hierarchy was Murray
Steinman, an astrologer who largely wrote Prophet’s books, which included
astrology. Steinman is seeking to become a legal guardian of Prophet’s
affairs, but her grown children are objecting to this. Ultimately, the courts
will decide.

I am not familiar with any in-depth psychological studies of
a “guru” after he or she has been disillusioned, but physical and/or mental
illness seems to be a common aftermath. Prophet says she will no longer play a
managerial role in her Church, but she will continue to channel the “Ascended
Masters,” so she is clinging to her faith at this point, apparently choosing to
abandon the world rather than to abandon her faith.

Returning to Prophet’s chart, Hiroshima was retrograding in
24 Leo 4 and her P East Point (an auxiliary Ascendant) ended a two-year
conjunction with it about 4 months before the announcement of her health
problems. She would have been trying to “come to terms” with her beliefs
during these years. To repeat the message, Prophet’s P Ascendant was conjunct
P Hiroshima for the previous two plus years and remained in a one-degree orb.
Natal Teller was conjunct Prophet’s personal name asteroid, Elisabetha, in 16
Capricorn, and Moira, one of the “fates”, was also in 16 Capricorn. Our
character (habits) creates our fate. P Hestia and Prophet’s P Montana East
Point were in 17 Cancer, moving through oppositions to Teller, Moira, and
Elisabetha during the preceding years. Hestia is the Greek name for Vesta, and
carries the same Virgo significance. Health problems often stem from work
frustrations. When the subconscious side of the mind is unable to attain the
sense of accomplishment needed by Virgo and/or Capricorn, it may produce
illness as an excuse for failure, to escape the loss of self-esteem without
guilt.

P Neptune has maintained a lifetime opposition to Vesta
across the Virgo-Pisces polarity, connecting idealism and work and hinting at
the risk of illness in the event of failure to achieve the ideals. Jupiter was
just over two degrees beyond Vesta, greatly intensifying the commitment to
spiritual work. Moving to Montana put Prophet’s local Ascendant in an exact
T-square to the Vesta-Neptune opposition, reinforcing the mutable dilemma of
the ideals versus what is possible in the material world. Showing the current
challenge, P Vesta in 16 Aries had reached a conjunction to Prophet’s natal Sun
just about a month before the announcement of her illness. It was also conjunct
P Hel, a death goddess, and square the trio in 16 Capricorn, including her name
asteroid. The placement of her personal name in the Virgo house, the details
of one’s job, and in the sign of Capricorn, one’s career in the larger sense of
our role and status in the society, shows how invested Prophet was in her
work. Her identification with her career was also shown by her Mars in
Capricorn in the Virgo house and by her Sun, a ruler of the Leo in the first
house, being placed in the 10th house. The Sun connects her ego and
self-esteem to her work, while Mars symbolizes basic identity, our right and
power to do what we please. Failure in one’s work can lead to a sense of
powerlessness, and can seriously impair the immune system.

An additional clue to a crisis in Prophet’s career and
status is shown by her P local MC conjunct Saturn. Earth in general and Saturn
(and its sign and house) in particular call for being realistic about the
“rules of the game” of life in a material world. In current patterns, letter
10 shows a time of feedback in how we are doing in handling the “rules of the
game.” If we are working successfully with the rules, Saturn periods can bring
increased success and power in the world. We may start a business or a
profession or move up a notch in a management hierarchy. If we have not been
“grounded,” we are apt to fail in our aspirations, to “fall” in some way.

Prophet’s P MC from her birthplace, another expression of
the Saturn principle, is fascinating. It is in 29 Taurus with a grand trine to
Saturn/north lunar node and P Nagasaki in 29 Capricorn and to P Kurtz, which is
now direct in 29 Virgo. She needs to learn to handle the earth principle, and
the trines show she has the capacity to do that, learning something from her materialistic
opponent if she is willing to learn. P Venus has recently reached a
conjunction with P Skepticus, to repeat the theme. Only time will tell whether
she is learning to be more discriminating in her acceptance of her psychic
inputs.

Of course, Kurtz also needs to learn about the reality of
the psychic dimensions of life, but the odds of that happening are small to
vanishing. As previous readers of The Mutable Dilemma will remember,
Kurtz’ associate Carl Sagan died in a hospital of cancer and pneumonia—all
connected to Neptune. I believe that his death was due to his inability to
handle the Neptune principle, to enlarge his faith beyond materialism. At
birth, Sagan had an exact Mars-Neptune conjunction in Virgo. He was torn
between his spiritual needs and his scientific materialism. His P Sagan, the
asteroid named for him, opposed natal Mars-Neptune and was quincunx P Mars at
his death.

I have recently added Veritas, another goddess of truth, to
Aletheia, which has been in my default collection of about 600 asteroids for
some years. Prophet’s Aletheia was in 2 Gemini square her Veritas, which was
retrograding in 2 Virgo. Obviously, squares show inner conflict and Prophet
has some kind of conflict involving truth. P Juno and P Moskva (Moscow) are forming a T-square to them from 1 to 2 Pisces, and P Daedalus (the father of
Icarus) and P Helio (a sun god for fame) add emphasis in 2 Virgo. P Hiroshima
is within one degree of P Helio in 3 Virgo, and P Ascendant in 4 Virgo is still
connected by overlapping orbs, highlighting the issue of truth which has been
confronting Prophet in recent years. P Aletheia in a T-square to Vesta, P
Neptune, and P Pythia, repeats the mutable dilemma, and P Veritas in 6 Virgo
square natal Ceres and the Antivertex says it again. The mutable factors
signal the mutable issues of truth, faith, ideals, and morality, which need to
be prioritized and integrated with material world limits. All of the asteroids
in 2 degrees of the mutable signs are also octile or trioctile Prophet’s
factors in 16 to 17 degrees of the cardinal signs. The latter include her Sun,
Skepticus, P Hel, Elisabetha, Teller, Moira, P Hestia, and P local East Point, which have been previously mentioned. Prophet’s identity, self-esteem, and
recuperative (fire) power are on the line!

Many other asteroids could be mentioned. Prophet was
identified with motherhood with Demeter, the Greek name for Ceres, on the
Ascendant, and she had children who questioned some of her beliefs. As
mentioned previously, her children are currently involved in deciding her legal
status, and in its usual incredible way, astrology shows the situation with
Prophet’s P Montana Ascendant conjunct P Demeter. They are also square the
mean P lunar nodes, fitting the relationship tensions, and the true P nodes
square Avicenna, an asteroid named for a healer. Several other healer
asteroids are also highlighted, including P Avicenna on Prophet's local MC in
22 Aquarius, P Paracelsus on her Ceres and Antivertex, P Panacea on her P Sun and
P Mercury, and P Podalirius on her P Uranus and P Pallas (for the litigation
potential).

Two intriguing asteroids are progressing over Prophet’s
Ascendant; Atlantis and Kassandra. Prophet, like most occultists, believes in
the material reality of Atlantis, a mythical continent, which sank beneath the
ocean. I have found the asteroid highlighted in cases involving power
struggles or the abuse of power, the theoretical cause of Atlantis sinking.
Richard Nixon had P Atlantis on his Ascendant during the Watergate litigation,
which led to his resignation of the U.S. presidency. In Prophet’s case, it
might mark the struggle between her staying in control of her life versus
Steinman or her grown children gaining legal power over her.

Kassandra angered Apollo, who gave her the gift of prophesy
but ordained that she would only predict negatives, would always be right, and
would never be believed. Like many current channelers, Prophet has mostly
predicted catastrophes, but the predictions have often been wrong and a limited
number of individuals have believed her. P Elisabetha is retrograding in 19
Capricorn opposite P Atlantis and P Kassandra. Her name asteroid has left the
opposition to the Ascendant and the square to Saturn, which would have been in
effect as the disability was developing. P Kassandra has reached the square to
Saturn and P Atlantis will move into it for the ongoing power struggle over her
ability to control her own life.

The biggest problem with asteroids calls for knowing when to
stop, since there are always more which are relevant. Prophet’s natal 8th
house cusp, which is associated with endings, including death, is on Moskva (Moscow) and Medusa, who turned those who saw her into stone. Natal Russia was in 17 Taurus
27, so Prophet’s P Uranus was conjunct it for many years and P Pallas is just
finishing its passage over it. Russia was just within a one-degree orb of a
square to Juno, a Plutonian asteroid in the 8th house, to fit her fear of Russia as a source of death. Prophet’s Sun/Moon midpoint was also involved, conjunct Juno
and square Uranus. Her P Moon was sextile the natal Moon and approaching the
Sun/Moon midpoint and Juno when the announcement was made of her health
condition. In December 1998, P Moon is currently trine P Sun and P Mercury,
square Uranus and P Phaethon (overreach), which is also in 16 Taurus,
semisextile Elisabetha and forming aspects to many different factors in her
chart. I would not attempt to predict the outcome of her confrontation with
power and the mutable dilemma.